What other practical experiences are there regarding allocation,
administration and registration of Persistent Identifiers?

The discussion list nbn-ub@d-nb.de provides a forum for the
exchange of information and experiences with other institutions using Persistent Identifiers.
At the same time this is intended to facilitate a discussion of this subject on a theoretical level.
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Persistent Identifiers can replace URLs in catalogues or other reference systems or they can be used as
stable references in documents themselves. The maintenance involved in updating references is thereby reduced.
Digital publications have globally unique identifiers, with which they can be more reliably cited.

To what can URNs administered at the German National Library assigned?

URNs from the namespace "nbn:de" are currently assigned for the following types of document:

Online thesis and dissertations

Networked publications archived at the German National Library such as research reports, articles, online serial
publications (series R and M in the German National Bibliography), publications from publishing houses,

Networked publications which have not yet been archived at the German National Library such as research reports,
serial type publications published online, videos, conference proceedings, research papers, reports

What is the structure of the URNs
administered at the German National Library?

URNs administered at the German National Library have the following general structure:
urn:nbn:de:[designations of library association]:[official notation of university libraries]-[unique production number][check digit]
Example:urn:nbn:de:gbv:089-3321752945

URNs are assigned with the following structure for libraries outside a library consortium:
urn:nbn:de:[four digit numeric code]-[unique number][check digit]Example:urn:nbn:de:1111-00016"urn" shows the resolution routine, "nbn"
indicates the "National Bibliography Number" (NBN) international
namespace, a namespace which is co-operatively administered by national libraries. "de"
stands for the sub-namespace "de", for which the German National Library is responsible.
[designations of library association]
is the acronym for the relevant library consortium, [official notation of university libraries]
is the library symbol for the library in
question, or a four digit code for institutions not part of a library
consortium. [unique producation number] must be a unique production number. The [check digit]
is used to validate the complete URN alpha-numeric string.

URNs for thesis and dissertations

What is the procedure for allocating URNs for online thesis
and dissertations?

If you are already registered to report online thesis and dissertations at the German National Library,
then you are simultaneously registered for the URN procedure as well. You will then receive a URN sub-namespace,
starting with "urn:nbn:de" from the German National Library. For this please contact the
responsible persons at the German National Library via e-mail nbn-request@d-nb.de.
This will mean you can allocate URNs and report them to the German National Library. You can find introductory
information on this by consulting Uniform Resource Name (URN)
administration and organisation for university libraries.

What steps are required to register URNs at the German National Library?

The established registration process for online thesis and dissertations has been
extended to cover the initial registration of URNs. This means that URNs can be registered at
the German National Library via the existing transfer interfaces ,
along with metadata in METADISS format This specifically affects
the following points:

Internal workflow for allocating the last component of a URN, the "NISS"

Calculating the URN's check digit

Extending the "METADISS" metadata format, as of 2005 "XMetaDiss"

Reporting URL changes and administrative details such as contact
people to the German National Library.

How can URNs for online thesis and dissertations be
retrospectively assigned?

A web form can be used for subsequent registration of dissertations which are already archived at
the German National Library. This form is available in the
restricted access area.

In the case of large scale multiple registrations, interested parties will be sent a file containing all
the information required (IDN and URL of the university library) in a fixed format. URNs assigned
subsequently must be added to these details. The file is then sent back to the German National Library.
A comparison is then made with the catalogue of the German National Library every six months (in June and December)
so that additional work is minimised. If you are interested in this you can contact the responsible persons
via e-mail nbn-request@d-nb.de. You will then
receive detailed information and examples.

For users of OPUS there is script available to automatically generate URNs retrospectively
and to capture this information in OPUS. This is located on the internal OPUS software site, ready to be downloaded.

URNs for networked publications

If you are registered to report networked publications to the German National Library, then you are
simultaneously also registered to process URNs. You will use the same verification details.
You will then receive a URN sub-namespace. The relevant staff member within the German National Library
will allocate this. You can contact the responsible person at
nbn-request@d-nb.de. The next step is to allocate a
complete URN and to register the networked publication
using the interactive registration form
at the German National Library. The URN will then be automatically registered.

URNs for the entire document server

What points must be noted in order to allocate URNs for
an entire document server?

URN assignment is linked to requirements such as secure archiving, aspects of long-term archiving and the requirement
to update URLs. These can be consulted in the
URN strategy at the German National Library. Criteria for authorised document servers are taken from
the DINI Certification. If an institution meets these
conditions, then a URN sub-namespace will be allocated by the German National Library. If these conditions are not
adhered to, then the resolver's error messages will be referred to the institution responsible for the URN
sub-namespace.

active registration process: All relevant registration processes can be automated by sending an XML record as
an attachment to an e-mail to the German National Library.

passive registration process using OAI 2.0 After
implementing "xepicur" in a data provider's OAI 2.0,
all relevant data resulting from the URN management process will be selectively harvested
once daily by the German National Library.

Questions about practical use

The German National Library performs a check for duplicate entires before a URN is registered.
If an error message is generated, then the URN will not be registered.
The institution concerned will be notified.

What transfer methods are there for registering
URNs at the German National Library?

The German National Library is able to receive data created as part of the URN management process in
various ways. You can then choose whichever method can best be integrated into your institution's existing workflow.

existing procedures for registering online resources and archiving at the German National Library.

The NISS element can consist of a running number, a unique production number or a combination of a date and a
running number. Alpha-numeric acronyms are also possible. No set number of characaters needs to be specified
as this can be expanded as necessary.

URNs will currently be indexed in the form "urn:nbn:de:gbv:089-3321752945" in
series H (Online thesis and dissertations) and series A (Publications from publishing houses) of the
German National Bibliography.

Whenever networked publications with DOIs are registered at the German National Library, then the DOI can be
captured in MAB field 552 of the bibliographic description (see
MAB documentation) and thus be supplied via bibliographic data services.

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